Pueblo Chieftain
September 12, 2003

Army OKs both chem demil phases for Pueblo

By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

The Citizens Advisory Commission won over the Army's chemical weapons destruction agency and got at least 40 more jobs and $80 million more in government money for the community with a convincing argument that nearly all of the mustard agent destruction should be done here.

The announcement came Thursday evening at the commission's monthly meeting. Pueblo County Commissioner and advisory panel Chairman John Klomp, circulated a letter from Michael A. Parker, program manager for the Army's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA), saying that he agreed with the community's recommendation that the second stage of the destruction program be done in Pueblo, instead of sending tank cars full of possibly hazardous liquid to another facility.

The explosive propellants for the artillery shells and storage pallets still will be taken away to other sites.

Officials had recommended that only the initial stage of the destruction be done here, claiming that the ACWA program would save $80 million by shipping the liquid from that stage to another plant.

The first stage of the process involves removing the mustard agent from artillery shells and mixing it with large amounts of water and caustics to break it down.

The result is a lot of water containing salts and thiodiglycol, also a caustic but not as dangerous as the mustard agent. It's a compound commonly used in solvents and ink.

In the second phase, microorganisms that digest thiodiglycol are added to the water to break it down further. The result is a sludge made up of the dead bacteria and water suitable for reintroduction into water treatment systems. Bill Pehlivanian, ACWA deputy program manager, said that the estimated $80 million savings did not take into consideration the cost of shipping or costs from delays if another community balked at receiving the liquid.

He said that another program using a water-based destruction technique had planned to ship liquid from a nerve gas destruction program in Newport, Ind., to a secondary-treatment facility in Ohio but that the community in Ohio protested the plan, causing long delays. Those kinds of delays can cost as much as $250,000 a day.

The program also has become more sensitive to community concerns since major protests over an incinerator in Anniston, Ala., he said.

Klomp said, "This is a significant decision for the Pueblo community." He said that the Army's decision was based on both safety concerns about transporting a potentially toxic material and about jobs for the community.

The chemical demilitarization program is expected to generate between 600 and 800 jobs during the process and as many as 1,300 during the construction phase.

Later in the meeting, Klomp said that Bechtel, the lead contractor, and ACWA officials were working with the commission to find ways to keep Pueblo from suffering economically when the program ends.

"We want to be able as a community to design our own sustainable development program," he said. "Bechtel and ACWA are going to build a highly skilled and well-trained work force."

In other business, Lt. Col. John Becker, Pueblo Chemical Depot commander, said that he is in the process of hiring more than 20 people, mainly in security functions.

John Schlatter of Bechtel said that the company has spent more than $222,000 in Pueblo out of $1.16 million total since taking on the project and that Bechtel officials were meeting with local contractors to prepare them for preliminary construction bidding.

The commission also heard from Rochelle Cruz and Art Pope of the county's emergency management department who described a program to distribute "shelter in place" kits to residents of Boone, Avondale and North Avondale. In the event of an accident, people who can't be evacuated can use the kits, containing plastic sheets, duct tape, flashlights and portable radios, to seal themselves in rooms in their homes until they can be brought to safety.